Seton Hill played its first home matches of the 2021 season Saturday by hosting Concord and IUP in a non-conference match. After sweeping past the Mountain Lions 3-0 in their first match of the afternoon, the Griffins rallied from a first-set loss to knock off the Crimson Hawks 3-1 and raise their record to 5-4 on the year.

The opening set against Concord was close early, with the Griffins holding a 13-11 lead before they rolled off seven of the next nine points to pull away for a 25-16 win. The second set saw the Mountain Lions lead early on, but Seton Hill rallied. A 6-0 run was the difference, highlighted by a pair of kills by Kierstin Schade and Terese Mihalcin, and put Seton Hill in front for good. Schade had a big set, totaling five kills, including the final point in a 25-15 set victory that gave the Griffins a 2-0 lead.

Leading 15-14 in the third set, a quick four-point burst by the Griffins, two coming off kills from Mara Yahner and two aces by Carrie Leazer, gave them the momentum to close out the sweep with a 25-21 third-set win. Pacing the hitters up front was Paige Cole with 12 kills and Yahner with 11, but a strong service game that featured 11 aces, including five by Leazer, also helped spark the win. Leazer brought up a team-leading nine digs as well, while three players posted double figures in assists, including Riley Rock with 15, Abby Oesterling with 13 and Shannon Watkins with 12.

In the second match of the day against IUP, the Crimson Hawks jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a 25-15 win in the opening set. The Griffins responded with an equally decisive win in the second set, as Rock had five kills and Yahner had four to spark a 25-18 win that evened the match at 1-1.

The third set was a wild back-and-forth battle. Neither team led by more than three at any point in the set and Seton Hill would fight off three set points from IUP, while the Crimson Hawks staved off two set points from Seton Hill. With the score tied at 28, the Griffins finally broke through, as a shared block by Cole and Bobbi Rempe snapped the tie and then Cole served an ace to give Seton Hill a 30-28 win and a 2-1 lead in the match.

The match looked like it might carry to a fifth set until a late Griffin run clinched their win. With the score tied 19-19, Seton Hill closed it out with a 6-1 run, to complete the 25-20 decision for the win. Yahner was the top hitter in the victory, as she recorded a career-high with 20 kills, while Riley posted 10 kills and a team-high 21 assists. Also turning in strong games were Cole with nine kills, 13 digs, two solo blocks and three assisted blocks, and Rempe, who finished with nine kills and four assisted blocks. The Griffins had three players in double figures with assists again, as Oesterling had 17 and Watkins passed out 13 and Leazer sparked the back row with 19 digs.

Seton Hill will see a familiar foe when they take the court again, as they will host IUP on Friday, Sept. 24th in a 7 pm match-up, which will open the PSAC West schedule for the Griffins.